THE LIBERAL REVIVAL
SIR, —I had thought that Taper's refusal to acknow- ledge the fact of Liberal revival was due to per- versity. It is now clear, however, that he has been looking for it in the wrong place. He can watch Gayfere Street for a generation, but he will not find there any sign of Liberal activity, for party head- quarters moved to Victoria Street several years ago.
Perhaps, however, Taper will be kind enough to remain in Gayfere Street, for, without being offen- sive, knowing offensiveness to be anathema to Taper, the one thing that might wreck the Liberal initiative would be for the party to listen to his views on strategy. The idea that Kelvingrove is a suitable con- stituency for the next Liberal candidature is a peculiar one. At each of the general elections of 1935, 1945 and 1950 (the last three occasions on which the Liberal Party fought this seat) the Liberal candidate in Kelvingrove polled the lowest Liberal vote in Great Britain.
Please do not think that I deplore Taper's succes- sive denigrations of Liberal progress. On the con- trary, each successive assertion by Taper that the Liberal Party is finished coincides with a substantial improvement in the polls of Liberal candidates.— Yours faithfully,
29 Bainton Road, Oxford
[Taper writes : 'It did ,occur to me that Gayfere Street was suspiciously quiet, but I thought it was the quiet of the grave. My apologies. As for Mr. Davies's suggestion that I am responsible for raising. the Liberal vote at by-elections, modesty compels me to reject it.'—Editor, Spectator.]
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